Bear Down Wildcats

wyo-cat wrote:Have we even had a high in the 70’s? It’s insane.

I remember it was 85 on thanksgiving in like 93 or 94 - it was pretty fun. This year, not so much.

No 70s in October at all. Supposedly it was 78/79 for 2 days last week but I don't believe that. The thermometer at my house said nothing below about 82.

azcat49 wrote:Visiting with duck fans up here at Autzen and most of them arrived at 6pm last night and they don't have to leave until 9am tomorrow morning. Talk about rolling out the red carpet for fans, especially those that drove down from Portland. Too much to ask from our university?

Is it too much to ask for decades of success that Oregon has had to inspire fans to show up? It cuts both ways.

Oregon used to be a not very good program with mediocre fans...and then they started winning. All comes back to Ws.

We have to find a way to be consistently in the top 25. Recruits want to go to a winning program and fans want to see us win. I'm willing to give RR time, but we need to have an expectation of winning game to game, year to year.

Which unfortunately is not an expectation that most of our fans have

TatetheGreat wrote:We have to find a way to be consistently in the top 25. Recruits want to go to a winning program and fans want to see us win. I'm willing to give RR time, but we need to have an expectation of winning game to game, year to year.

Indeed. I believe we have the ability to win any individual game we play any given day. It's just that we have no consistency. It's too much to expect an Arizona team to actually follow up a good season with a second good season or to follow up one big time game with another.

It boils down to creating a culture of winning. People always buy into a winner especially a consistent winner. Just look what Lute Olson transformed the basketball program into. Not to compare basketball and football but it's just an example. People don't just like a winner; they're willing to invest in one.

Captain Obvious wrote:It boils down to creating a culture of winning. People always buy into a winner especially a consistent winner. Just look what Lute Olson transformed the basketball program into. Not to compare basketball and football but it's just an example. People don't just like a winner; they're willing to invest in one.

And people also say it's impossible to create. But it's not. Again, look at Basketball. It wasn't always how it is now.

PieceOfMeat wrote:

azcat49 wrote:Visiting with duck fans up here at Autzen and most of them arrived at 6pm last night and they don't have to leave until 9am tomorrow morning. Talk about rolling out the red carpet for fans, especially those that drove down from Portland. Too much to ask from our university?

Is it too much to ask for decades of success that Oregon has had to inspire fans to show up? It cuts both ways.

Well I asked how long that rule has been in.play and he said since they built Autzen in 67. No idea how it was when they sucked but it looked fun.

They handed out mini flashlights and had a light show from the fans. They had people come out on the field AFTER the teams left the field and throw the football around and take pictures on the turf.

They had a bid animal house video with the shout song and even the refs were watching the video board. Wasn't the loudest stadium I have been in but definitely the funnest fan involvement.

Leaving now and the RV'S are humming with people watching TV and fires going. Really is the place to be

Tonight's embarrassing loss, even if we win the TC next week, pretty much kills any chance of improved attendance next year.

Yea because it destroyed the hype around Tate for the rest of the year

Attendance is a problem around the nation, but I do blame RR for the current attendance levels.

Spring Game: RR has made it a joke. Its a stupid practice that is one of the lamest things to attend. The Spring Game is meant to build excitement for the next year. RR Spring Game does not bring any excitement. Other teams make the whole thing an event. So Arizona might go from December to August with no hype or excitement.

Closed Practices: I know its a common practice these days. The problem though is that it cuts down the number of interesting football stories from the press and its nearly impossible to build fan excitement with "During the drills, kids look fast."RR need to open up practice and build excitment.

Fall Scrimmage: See Spring Game. Its not as bad as the Spring Game, but it is severely lacking in the entertainment factor.

Long Games: Arizona games can last hours. While RR isn't at fault for T.V. schedule, the games just last too long.

Basically, Arizona fans get no excitement between the bowl game and first game. There is no connections to players or the team. Then the fans that due attend the games have to sit through 3-4 hours of football late on Saturday night. Many fans have much better things to do than go to a game to see a team that they are not invested in, lay eggs in big games, and wont get home till 10-11 (maybe later with traffic).

I predict, a easy prediction I know, but next year season ticket sales will be even lower. If Tate get injured before the season starts, it will be historic lows (even worse than now). There is a chance to build off of Tate Heisman talk, but if past is any prediction, RR won't handle that well either. I'm sure there will be a "QB competition" this spring.

This season isn't going to do shit for ticket sales. This game is worse than if ASU would have blown us out, because we were stomping them in the first half.

We will never have the depth to overcome any injury set backs and we will always have to be lucky enough to have everything fall our way to win key games.

Special teams are a goddamn joke. Defense has some playmakers but they won't consistently stop anyone.

We lose our offensive line and Tate will have a "sophomore" slump or be injury prone.

We are not going to be better next year.

jimson wrote:This season isn't going to do shit for ticket sales. This game is worse than if ASU would have blown us out, because we were stomping them in the first half.

We will never have the depth to overcome any injury set backs and we will always have to be lucky enough to have everything fall our way to win key games.

Special teams are a goddamn joke. Defense has some playmakers but they won't consistently stop anyone.

We lose our offensive line and Tate will have a "sophomore" slump or be injury prone.

We are not going to be better next year.

This is an extremely plausible outcome... and it is amazing how many fans want to overlook the losses on arguably the most important positions on the team.

Nick Saban is Nick Saban largely because he understands very clearly that battles in the trenches determine winners of games.

We saw later in the season what mediocre to good teams could do against Tate... give him a young & inexperienced offensive line? Don;t book your tickets to next year's Heisman ceremony.

Thanks exclusively to Khalil Tate, RR did the bare minimum to save his job and cash in on a big fat retention bonus for amassing a 0.436 conference winning %.

He edged just ahead of Mike Stoops in that metric with his 5-4 campaign.

Dude we get you hate RR and you have a bone cone for Miller.

Guess what. Both are good but not great. And both deserve to be here.

Like Chief likes to say, if you are an UA QB, you you will get injured in RichRod's offense.

That has to hurt recruiting, and why the Cats get runners like Dawkins and Tate, great wheels, but below average arms. Just running backs who want to play QB and RIchRod gives them that chance.

Think Denker was the only UA QB in the RichRod era to go relatively injury free.

can we please all come together and beg machina to stop saying "bone cone" like he's a 12 year old boy?

PHXCATS wrote:Dude we get you hate RR and you have a bone cone for Miller.

Guess what. Both are good but not great. And both deserve to be here.

You are what your record suggests you are. And their records are not in the same hemisphere. In any measurable way.

But stick with the ad hominem attacks, because you are not equipped to make a cogent argument using facts and critical reasoning.

Admittedly, you have no facts on your side. Unfortunately, you don't have enough horsepower under the hood to realize that.

$10.75 beers last night in Phoenix. Hopefully we get them under $8 at McKale

I doubt it but I hope they're priced more like at the AZ baseball games. Those were about $7 for small beers (16 oz) and $10 for large (about 24oz).

Just catching up on this thread and I haven't heard bone cone used in 25 years.

CalStateTempe wrote:Just catching up on this thread and I haven't heard bone cone used in 25 years.

I'm dying man. Fricken bone cone! The inner 11 year old in me just gave the thumbs up to PHXCATS.

Hopefully the Beer sales at McKale move to AZ Stadium this next year. Need a boost in revenue and attendance big time. Dont forget if more fans showed up UA would be in the Holiday Bowl this year not Foster Farms

Is my boss a bad fan because she wouldn't give me the afternoon off for travel to the game?

Or am I a bad fan for taking a three week vacation in January? Therefore taking an afternoon in dec when we are already short staffed is a no go?

CalStateTempe wrote:Is my boss a bad fan because she wouldn't give me the afternoon off for travel to the game?

Or am I a bad fan for taking a three week vacation in January? Therefore taking an afternoon in dec when we are already short staffed is a no go?

Bad fan of course not.

If you don't go to the game you dont go and your fandom doesnt change.

But the point is, is that bowls want butts in the seats on top of a competitive game. Holiday chose WSU over UA and asu for a few reasons, one of which is attendance.

PHXCATS wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:

But the point is, is that bowls want butts in the seats on top of a competitive game. Holiday chose WSU over UA and asu for a few reasons, one of which is attendance.

Yeah, probably more the 9-3 vs 7-5 thing

jimson wrote:

PHXCATS wrote:

CalStateTempe wrote:

But the point is, is that bowls want butts in the seats on top of a competitive game. Holiday chose WSU over UA and asu for a few reasons, one of which is attendance.

Yeah, probably more the 9-3 vs 7-5 thing

That is part of it but so is what I said. Especially since WSU was there last year

Isn't the holiday bowl a high profile bowl? Make sense why wsu is there.

Based on record alone that is.

You can't tell me coug nation would outdrawn Arizona in san diego

CalStateTempe wrote:Isn't the holiday bowl a high profile bowl? Make sense why wsu is there.

It is, they had the choice of U of A, asu and Washington State.

Scheer seemed very confident that Holiday would pick U of A since WSU laid an egg there last year.

CalStateTempe wrote:You can't tell me coug nation would outdrawn Arizona in san diego

Attendance is not the only factor when bowls choose but it is one. Maybe the Holiday Bowl weighed other factors more strongly but that is why attendance at games matters.

If Im the holiday bowl, its easier to sell 2 9-3 teams vs one 7-5 team. Both are ranked, will have some hype because of it.

CalStateTempe wrote:You can't tell me coug nation would outdrawn Arizona in san diego

They would not, but many if not all bowls requires the teams to purchase so many seats. Most bowls actually are money losers for the programs, that's why you see some teams occasionally decline a bowl bid. UA had to pay for many of those empty seats at the Gilden New Mexico bowl.

However, contractually obligated conference bowl games are required. I think the Fiesta Bowl was the only UA bowl game that made money.

However, being that the PAC shares conference winnings, and losses, after expenses, it's not painful for each school.

ICYMI..Stadium Improvements

Really interested to see how attendance does with Coach Sumlin. Attendance needs to improve ASAP to get the better recruits.

Really interested to see how attendance does with Coach Sumlin. Performance on the field, wins, and better recruiting all need to improve ASAP to get better attendance.

If you build it, they will come. Or in machina's world, if you do nothing to improve the program or fan experience, bitch and moan and expect them to come for some unknown reason.

Recruits dont want to play for a school with low attendance, bad and fair weather fans etc. Better attendance would help Sumlin's job to recruit lot easier. Oh well, sit back and wait guys, hopefully one day we will catch that lightning in a bottle and get to the Rose Bowl or CFP with all the recruiting obstacles that Arizona faces, some of which can be prevented

ASUHATER! wrote:If you build it, they will come. Or in machina's world, if you do nothing to improve the program or fan experience, bitch and moan and expect them to come for some unknown reason.

Problem is, they do try to improve the experience but does it actually improve experience and will that translate in attendance? We'll see.

If you live in Tucson, there is no reason not to go to Games. If you live outside, I get its hard especially with the later start times. I am thinking I am making only 1 game this year as its harder now with two young kids to travel to T Town

U of A has done everything possible to make the experience more enjoyable on things they can control including lowering ticket prices, improving Student Section and Lower East Side this year, adding new food options, getting the band more involved etc.

Why don't you guys fight about all this at all the games this fall. Agree to get in a huge debate about it during every half time. That way you all show up to the games! The one game I attend, I will referee and declare a winner

I would be happy to debate at the Southern Utah or USC tailgate (debating under the influence is the funnest).

I'll be traveling Labor Day weekend and miss the BYU game, I know, "bad fan."

At half-time, I will be focused on grabbing some of the new cuisine they have to offer this year.

Newportcat wrote:If you live in Tucson, there is no reason not to go to Games. If you live outside, I get its hard especially with the later start times. I am thinking I am making only 1 game this year as its harder now with two young kids to travel to T Town

U of A has done everything possible to make the experience more enjoyable on things they can control including lowering ticket prices, improving Student Section and Lower East Side this year, adding new food options, getting the band more involved etc.

Why don't you guys fight about all this at all the games this fall. Agree to get in a huge debate about it during every half time. That way you all show up to the games! The one game I attend, I will referee and declare a winner

Well yes, now, finally they are doing something about improving the fan experience. Which is why fans get a pass for the last few years and why I absolutely expect attendance to be a good bit higher this year. Between Tate, a new coach, upgrades to the zona zoo and food options and other things, it will improve. Future upgrades to the west side will help as well. But the #1 way to improve attendance is to win. Fans and locals are the last group to blame when it comes to attendance.

ASUHATER! wrote:

Newportcat wrote:If you live in Tucson, there is no reason not to go to Games. If you live outside, I get its hard especially with the later start times. I am thinking I am making only 1 game this year as its harder now with two young kids to travel to T Town

U of A has done everything possible to make the experience more enjoyable on things they can control including lowering ticket prices, improving Student Section and Lower East Side this year, adding new food options, getting the band more involved etc.

Why don't you guys fight about all this at all the games this fall. Agree to get in a huge debate about it during every half time. That way you all show up to the games! The one game I attend, I will referee and declare a winner

Well yes, now, finally they are doing something about improving the fan experience. Which is why fans get a pass for the last few years and why I absolutely expect attendance to be a good bit higher this year. Between Tate, a new coach, upgrades to the zona zoo and food options and other things, it will improve. Future upgrades to the west side will help as well. But the #1 way to improve attendance is to win. Fans and locals are the last group to blame when it comes to attendance.

I am up for a debate. The plan is to be at the games this year.

ASUHATER! wrote:Well yes, now, finally they are doing something about improving the fan experience..... Fans and locals are the last group to blame when it comes to attendance.

Well...I'm not wrong. The administration, coaching, athletic department and team itself are higher on that list for every program or professional franchise on earth.

ASUHATER! wrote:Well...I'm not wrong. The administration, coaching, athletic department and team itself are higher on that list for every program or professional franchise on earth.

"wrong"

I learn so much from the interactions between Scum / Hater and Machina.